CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Sports editor
Former Chidester All State basketball student athlete Edgar O. Lee will be recognized by his alma mater at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.
According to a news release, Southern Arkansas University Alumni Association, Inc., will honor nine outstanding SAU alumni during the organization’s annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner on May 2.
Tickets for the alumni awards dinner may be purchased online at www.saualumni.com/alumnidinner or by calling the alumni office at 870-235-4079. Tickets may be individually purchased for $20, or a table with eight seats may be purchased for $160.
During the event, Lee will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is married to Gloretta Lee, and they have two sons, Ethan and Evyn - both of whom played basketball at Camden Fairview High School and at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Lee is an alderman for the city of Chidester, and he and his family attend Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church.
Lee is a former SAU Board of Trustees Chair, who served his first term in 2009. He is an alumnus of SAU and a team leader at Raytheon Missile Corporation. He was born in Magnolia and graduated from Waldo High School. He was an all-state basketball player for three years at Waldo, and played for Coach Monroe Ingram during his athletic career at SAU. He earned his bachelor of business administration degree from SAU in 1984.
Lee shares his insights on organizational diversity as he serves on the SAU Diversity Initiative Task Force. He served three years in the United States Army before being employed by Brown and Williamson, where he was awarded territory sales manager of the year. He was responsible for the southwest Arkansas territory for 10 years before starting at Raytheon.
Lee is also the vice chairman of the Ouachita County Hospital Board of Directors.
On May 2. award recipients will be honored in four categories, according to SAU Director of Alumni Relations Megan McCurdy. The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Edgar O. Lee, Dr. Tom Brian and Sharon L. Brian. Dr. Daniel G. Kyle and Dr. Robert W. Henderson will be recognized as Distinguished Golden Muleriders. Debbie Arnold, Dr. J. David Ashby, and Roderic Duckworth will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award. Julie Barber and Dennis Joseph will be honored as Distinguished Young Alumni.